Elizabeth Emma Soyer (née Jones), 1813–1842, British
Title:
Young Mariner and Dog
Date:
1833
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
30 × 25 inches (76.2 × 63.5 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed on label on stretcher: “no [?] ‘Young Mariner & Dog’ | By Miss Emma Jones | No. 1 Fitzroy Sq.”
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2024.14
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
seashore | hood (headgear) | fisherman | sailor | stick | portrait | dog (animal) | boy
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
In a New Light: 500 Years of British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-04-01 - 2026-01-30)
Gallery Label:
The boy wears the raincoat and hat of a working sailor, suggesting a life of hard labor. The stick in his hand implies that he was playing with his trusty canine companion before his job interrupted their fun. The painting was exhibited the year that the Factory Act of 1833 was passed, which prohibited factories from employing children under the age of nine and limited the hours that older children could work. Soyer herself was only twelve when she began her professional training with the Belgian portrait painter François Simonau. Despite achieving success during her short life, she has since been largely overlooked and the location of most of her works remains unknown. This painting is the first by the artist to enter an American museum collection. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025